HOUGHTON, NY – The Houghton Highlanders could not pull off a dramatic third-set comeback, and eventually fell to the Geneva Golden Tornadoes on Friday night, 3-1.
 
With the match tied at one set apiece, and the Highlanders trailing, 22-14, Houghton scored four consecutive points to draw with four.  After Geneva added two more to gain match point, the Highlanders broke serve on a kill by Jenna Bittinger and added four more points to pull within one. 
 
The Highlander comeback quickly ended with a service error into the net, giving Geneva the pivotal third set and momentum to win the fourth.
 
GAME VITALS
Score: Houghton – 1 | Geneva – 3
Records: Houghton: 11-17 | Geneva: 16-11
Scores: 19-25, 25-19, 23-25, 17-25
Venue: The Nielsen Center, Houghton College | Attendance: 147

NOTABLE STATS
>> Five Highlanders collected at least 10 digs apiece, led by Haley Unverdorben and Ally Bittinger with 16 apiece.
 
>> Unverdorben earned her fifth double-double of the season, dishing out 29 assists to pair with her career-high dig numbers.
 
>> Amber Edwards added a team-high 15 kills and 10 digs for her 12^th double-double of the year.  She has hit double-digits in kills in 19 of the team's 28 matches this season, and double-digits in digs 16 times.
 
COACH'S CORNER
"It was nice to finally give Geneva a good game—it's been a while since we've done that—but I still think we could have been a little sharper.
 
"Amber [Edwards] and Jenna [Bittinger] played really well, and I thought Haley was pretty awesome, especially considering how much she had to move around the court.
 
"We made some adjustments to how we ran our outsides and made some good runs; unfortunately, we couldn't pull of that third set, and we made a few too many mistakes to win the match." –Head Coach Nancy Cole
 
UP NEXT
The Highlanders return to the Nielsen Center tomorrow at noon for a rematch with SUNY Cortland before playing their final contest of the season at 2:00 p.m. against Keuka College.